A paper examined key components of the debates around successful cities and economies in England, setting out recent policy, and describing the 'successful city'. It argued that a more powerful and diverse set of cities outside of London could contribute much to the urban policy agenda, and that they should be allowed to 'take some of the strain' from the capital by taking on roles that did not needed to be performed there.
Source: Michael Parkinson, No Cities, No Civilisation; No Successful Cities, No Successful Nations, European Institute for Urban Affairs, Liverpool John Moores University
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Dec
An audit report said that there was not yet evidence to demonstrate that Local Enterprise Partnerships, Enterprise Zones and City Deals, and the funding mechanisms for supporting local economic growth such as the Regional Growth Fund, were able to deliver value for money. The report said that: progress differed between Local Enterprise Partnerships; there had so far been limited spend, or job creation, from the Growing Places Fund; and Enterprise Zones and the Regional Growth Fund were facing a significant challenge to produce the anticipated number of jobs. The report recommended that future such reorganizations should be planned more effectively, with sufficient capacity in place to oversee initiatives, and clear lines of accountability. It also called for measures to be put in place to evaluate performance and monitor outcomes.
Source: Funding and Structures for Local Economic Growth, HC 542 (Session 2013–14), National Audit Office, TSO
Links: Report | Summary | NAO press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-Dec
A report examined the future prospects for town centres in the United Kingdom. Noting a change in shopping trends, it said that fewer town centre retail units would be needed in the future. Recommendations included: town and city centres to be designated as 'infrastructure', and incorporated in the government's national infrastructure plan; cross-border co-operation between local authorities; proactive use of compulsory purchase orders; and greater engagement with private sector developers, investors, landlords and housebuilders.
Source: Beyond Retail: Redefining the shape and purpose of town centres, Distressed Town Centre Property Taskforce
Links: Report | BCSC press release
Date: 2013-Nov
A government report examined the progress of the Growing Places Fund. The fund was designed to finance key infrastructure projects to support economic growth, create jobs and build houses in England. The range of projects funded included site access/site clearance, broadband and transport infrastructure, utilities, refurbishment of buildings, and flood defence barriers. The report said that £652 million had been earmarked or allocated to 305 specific projects, and the funding had helped to unlock £2.6 billion of additional investment, of which £1.8 billion was from the private sector. 52 per cent of all projects were underway and Local Enterprise Partnerships expected funded projects to create 4,900 businesses, 94,000 jobs and 27,000 houses.
Source: The Growing Places Fund: Investing in infrastructure, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | DCLG press release
Date: 2013-Nov
A special issue of a journal examined economic development in the United Kingdom under the coalition government.
Source: Local Economy, Volume 28 Number 7-8
Links: Table of contents
Notes: Articles included:
James Rees and Alex Lord, 'Making space: putting politics back where it belongs in the construction of city regions in the North of England'
Iain Deas, Stephen Hincks, and Nicola Headlam, 'Explicitly permissive? Understanding actor interrelationships in the governance of economic development: the experience of England s Local Enterprise Partnerships'
David Waite, Duncan Maclennan, and Tony O Sullivan, 'Emerging city policies: devolution, deals and disorder'
Allan Cochrane, Bob Colenutt, and Martin Field, 'Developing a sub-regional growth strategy: reflections on recent English experience'
Sarah Ayres and Graham Pearce, 'A Whitehall perspective on decentralisation in England s emerging territories'
Kevin Broughton, Nigel Berkeley, and David Jarvis, 'Where next for neighbourhood regeneration in England? Two years on'
Mike Chadwick, Peter Tyler, and Colin Warnock, 'How to raise the bar on impact evaluation: challenges for the evaluation of local enterprise partnerships and the regional growth fund in times of austerity'
Lee Pugalis and Gill Bentley, 'Storming or performing? Local Enterprise Partnerships two years on'
Date: 2013-Nov
A government report examined the progress of the Growing Places Fund. The fund was designed to finance key infrastructure projects to support economic growth, create jobs and build houses in England. The range of projects funded included site access/site clearance, broadband and transport infrastructure, utilities, refurbishment of buildings, and flood defence barriers. The report said that £652 million had been earmarked or allocated to 305 specific projects, and the funding had helped to unlock £2.6 billion of additional investment, of which £1.8 billion was from the private sector. 52 per cent of all projects were underway and Local Enterprise Partnerships expected funded projects to create 4,900 businesses, 94,000 jobs and 27,000 houses.
Source: The Growing Places Fund: Investing in infrastructure, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | DCLG press release
Date: 2013-Nov
An article critically assessed the regional economic/planning institutions and strategies in England that had been abolished by the coalition government. It also considered the potential for local economic partnerships to develop into democratically accountable, locally self-determined strategic planning bodies.
Source: Janice Morphet and Simon Pemberton, '"Regions out – sub-regions in" – can sub-regional planning break the mould? The view from England', Planning Practice and Research, Volume 28 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Oct
A report by an all-party group examined the ability of local enterprise partnerships to deliver local growth strategies.
Source: Rising to the Challenge: How LEPs can deliver local growth strategies, All Party Parliamentary Group on Local Growth, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Enterprise Zones
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Oct
A think-tank report said that policies intended to revive high streets had failed. The Town Centre First policy had been intended to support the high street by limiting out-of-town shopping centres: but it had decreased competition between retailers and damaged the social fabric of many communities, especially outside the south east region. Discriminating against out-of-town outlets had also pushed up prices, which was particularly damaging for low-income households.
Source: Alex Morton and Gerard Dericks, 21st Century Retail Policy: Quality, choice, experience and convenience, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release
Date: 2013-Sep
A think-tank report highlighted the importance of city centres – and not just high streets – to the promotion of jobs growth and local economies.
Source: Paul Swinney and Dmitry Sivaev, Beyond the High Street: Why our city centres really matter, Centre for Cities
Date: 2013-Sep
The government released an interim response to a report by a committee of MPs on local enterprise partnerships.
Source: Local Enterprise Partnerships: Interim Government Response to the Committee's Ninth Report of Session 2012-13, First Special Report (Session 2013-14), HC 585, House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, TSO
Links: Response
Notes: MPs report (April 2013)
Date: 2013-Jul
A think-tank report examined the future role of local economic partnerships.
Source: Michael Ward and Sally Hardy (eds), Where Next for Local Enterprise Partnerships?, Smith Institute
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Jun
A report by an all-party group of MPs and peers said that local enterprise partnerships should be given a greater role in shaping skills provision and back-to-work schemes in order to boost local growth.
Source: Skills and Employment in the Age of Local Growth Deals, All Party Parliamentary Group on Local Growth, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Enterprise Zones
Links: Report | NIACE press release
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined the economic thinking behind the coalition government's new framework for achieving local growth and the creation of local enterprise partnerships in England. It said that there was a 'mismatch' between the rhetoric and the policies for local growth.
Source: Paul Hildreth and David Bailey, 'The economics behind the move to "localism" in England', Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Volume 6 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs said that two-year funding agreements for local enterprise partnerships were too short to allow them to make any long-term investments. The partnerships needed more certainty and security, and should be given a 5-year core funding deal from 2015.
Source: Local Enterprise Partnerships, Ninth Report (Session 2012-13), HC 598, House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Committee press release | AOC press release | BPF press release | Million+ press release | UCU press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Apr
An article examined the implications of the coalition government's localism agenda for the scope, organization, and mobilization of economic development interventions – focusing on the 2011 Localism Act in England and Wales. It highlighted the uneasy relationship between centralized powers, conditional decentralization, and fragmented localism – which nonetheless left space for innovative local actions.
Source: Gill Bentley and Lee Pugalis, 'New directions in economic development: localist policy discourses and the Localism Act', Local Economy, Volume 28 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Apr
A report said that local council investment in arts and culture could provide returns of £4 for every £1 spent. The arts provided almost 1 million jobs, and the 67,000 cultural businesses brought in £28 billion to the economy every year.
Source: Driving Growth Through Local Government Investment in the Arts, Local Government Association
Links: Report | LGA press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Mar
A think-tank report said that district councils in England could play a central role in promoting local economic growth – for example, by investing in new house building unlocking retail and business development, and leading on 'City Deal' bids.
Source: Joe Manning, The Road Not Taken: New ways of working for district councils, New Local Government Network
Links: Report | Summary | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Mar
A think-tank report examined the greater role that local authorities could and should play in stimulating investment and economic growth in their areas, and set out recommendations for models of capital investment that could deliver much-needed returns for regional economies.
Source: Ed Cox and Katie Schmuecker, Beyond Big Banks and Big Government: Strategies for local authorities to promote investment, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report | Summary | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Mar
A think-tank report called for a more joined-up approach to government policy on welfare, poverty, and employment. It proposed a 'social contract' between residents, local business, service providers, and the wider community, which would account for the needs of local labour markets, community networks, and social assets. Regeneration was not just a matter of reviving housing markets and providing transport infrastructure: it should engage with the people who were most affected by poverty in the places where they lived, working with them to create solutions that worked in the context of their lives, and strengthening the links and assets that were already important to them.
Source: Julian Dobson, Responsible Recovery: A social contract for local growth, ResPublica
Links: Report | Summary | CLES press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Mar
An article examined the relationship between local economic assessments (introduced by the former Labour government in 2010) and the new local enterprise partnerships. There was significant scope for a fruitful 'dialogic interaction'. But a (more or less formal) strategy-making process to help transmit shared priorities would significantly bolster the relationship.
Source: Lee Pugalis and Jon Carling, 'The role of local economic assessments in the new political and economic climate and their relationship with local enterprise partnerships', Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal, Volume 6 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jan